Aditya Rao of Kaapi on making peace with $1000 MRR

What if the real key to a richer and more fulfilling career
was not to create and scale a new start-up, but rather, to be
able to work for yourself, determine your own hours, and become a
(highly profitable) and sustainable company of one? Suppose the
better—and smarter—solution is simply to remain small? via
Company of One”


Pankaj Mishra


Sounds quite a playbook, doesn't it? Amid all the talks of
finding a product-market fit, growth hacking revenues from $0 to
$1 million, $10 million and beyond, a rare breed of entrepreneurs
are finding a path to inner peace. 


Aditya has spent the past decade working across fast-growing
startups, being an entrepreneur himself and failing too. He is
now applying all the lessons and realisations he has gathered
over the years to redefine his life and work. 


I was amazed to read his blog “Our Hardcore Year - getting to
1000$ MRR” for its blunt honesty and refreshing insights. 


In this podcast, Aditya shares why it makes sense to get off the
funding and growth treadmill and find a way to staying sane apart
from a sustainable livelihood. 


After raising around $5 million, kind of failing later with his
startup, Aditya started realising he wasn’t enjoying it much.
Entrepreneurship had started feeling like a burden for him. 


“I was 4 years into it and really burnt out. I just couldn’t
carry on….it kind of started feeling that I was doing it just for
the sake of it. Because I was supposed to be an entrepreneur and
keep going….I just couldn’t do it.”


Listen to this podcast to learn from Aditya’s playbook of the
path to $1000 MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue), and also, why it
makes sense to stay small and stay sane.